Month: October 2013

I love this movie for its characters, soundtrack, and a handful of deep and/or witty quotes (scroll to the bottom to see the last quote that epitomizes the movie’s message for me). I thought of Penelope (2006 – Christina Ricci’s absolutely charming in it) as I was going to blog about personal changes and how I decided not to cut or color my hair. See, I was thinking about doing it here since it’s way cheaper in India than back home in LA… so what happened?

Well, after a bunch of “research” into what look I might want to try halfway through my 31st year on Earth (I wanted my 30s to begin with some sort of transformations), I looked in mirror and suddenly realized, “Wait. I don’t need to change anything. [Touched my naturally dark brown, almost black hair, examined its healthy, non-split ends, smiled, looked in the mirror…] WAIT a second.. who is that pleasant looking girl in the mirror? [Smiled really big, felt kinda silly and giddy] DUDE. I’m kinda cute! Haha..I don’t think I’m gonna change anything, after all. I don’t need to. I like my self (my look), just as I am.” (*Not to say that I or others change our looks because we don’t like ourselves or our looks; I am just going through my own stages of personal growth and transformation right now..and maybe probably I will again later…)

LOL, so there you have it! I’m not changing anything, as I imagined I might (I was thinking I might go blonde or go real short, like pixie cut short~) before embarking on this adventure / vision – mission trip / journey through Asia. I’m just gonna remain, regular ol’ me.

And…I think most of the changes I’ve undergone are internal, invisible, and more lasting anyway…well, minus the tan and bad skin Hopefully the bad skin goes away soon!

Fav Quotes from the movie:

“I felt the rush of a thousand heartbreaks.”

“I like myself the way I am.”

“You lied to me! I guessed piano and you said that…[boy grabs and kisses girl]”

“It’s not the power of the curse – it’s the power you give the curse.”

Prayer tonight:

Thank you, God, for making me just the way I am. Help me to appreciate and steward this gift of “me” better, for Your glory and pleasure! God, You are an AWESOME Artist and Creator. I love & worship You!

In both Frankenweenie and Astroboy (“children’s” entertainment that I thoroughly enjoy!), the beloved little ones (Sparky the dog and Astroboy/Toby the robot-boy) are brought “back to life” with a spark of electricity (one from lightening, the other from a fancy machine). That got me thinking about 2 things:

1) Grief and letting go: In both these stories, the initial crisis is that someone or something beloved (family pet, only son) dies in an accident, and someone cannot let go. Not really dealing with (or maybe, caused by) their grief, they search for a way to bring back their beloved.

Can you imagine if in real life people gained the ability to bring back their beloved ones, especially for a certain amount of money? Good Lord…I don’t even want to imagine that. I think there’s a good reason we are made to live and eventually die on this fallen earth. There are innumerable legends in almost every culture about the search for immortality and “eternal life,” but I believe that the followers of Yeshua have the one true answer, a legend that is a true story… and thank GOD for that.

I wouldn’t want to live forever on this broken planet, anyway… I find relief in the second coming of Yeshua to come and make EVERYTHING good and new, just the way He originally made Earth.

Which… which means, in this lifetime, we need to learn how to grieve properly. Learning to grieve and let go involves a process of being sad, learning to live with unanswered questions, and accepting our human frailty, mortality, and… just how weak we are. And ideally, just how much we need Yeshua.

2) Sparking life: It’s amazing how much our “origin story” affects our sense of self and our understanding of the meaning of our lives, and the process of discovering (or creating) our destinies… for people who believe the earth and their own lives came about because of an initial “big [random, unplanned, un-owned] bang,” perhaps the equivalent of a huge burst of lightening/energy, I wonder, where do they get their sense of self and what helps them find the meaning of their lives? I suppose each person just decides for him/her-self? That is… well, that can be interesting, and at the worst, scary…

Humans have a need to belong, to be cared for, nurtured, and… “claimed” in a sense… it’s evident, particularly when we see children who have been abandoned, rejected, neglected, abused…or even, big kids (i.e. adults) who have been disowned… it disrupts their natural psychosocial, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual development… it crushes their self esteem and distorts their sense of self, as well as their ability to connect with others.

I love that in the Bible Story, humankind began with the Breath of Life – Ruach.

Not just lightening, though I’m sure the amount of pure energy (or electricity or electromagnetic power) that was in the Breath of Life from God was enormous! But the beauty of this way of creating life was that God wasn’t just creating, He was GIVING of Himself. His essence, His own Spirit and Life was being poured into the creation. In Hawaii, I had learned that the “Ha” in “Aloha” actually means “Breath of Life.” I always liked that 😉

I love, and am grateful, that I come from a line of creatures who were given life, and originally created to be given the Spirit of God, so I am able to have a solid sense of self as valued, chosen, and created purposefully. My Creator takes ownership of me and can claim me as His own Creation and in fact, His own Child! Amazing… the meaning of my life comes from being a beloved child and daughter, with an inheritance to claim and receive, and a destiny to be discovered and lived out with joy!

Sadly, people (including my emotions and thoughts sometimes) believe lies about this reality not being completely true, or they have just never had the truth revealed to them, so they wander, or worship false idols and gods, or they just waste their lives in pursuits of false ideas/paths of happiness, fulfillment, and peace…

My prayer tonight is:

Lord, let Your light shine in the darkness, let Your truth overcome the lies, and may Your Spirit be poured out onto and overflow from Your beloved children. Anoint us, touch us, reveal Your purposes for us, and unite our hearts to let our love and our good deeds shine, that people may see You as You are in Heaven and glorify You!

I’m watching the epic ending of Pirates of the Caribbean 3 (just after watching the end of the Day After Tomorrow – it’s a Diwali movie marathon for us in India!) and I’m impressed by three things:

1) Elizabeth Swann (Turner) becoming King of the Brethren (of the Pirates) – her battle speech is so awesome. I love that they made her the leader and heroine in the end! *BUT – could they not have tried to do w/the crosscultural dynamics what they tried to do w/gender? (Not that they got that completely right either – the female being the object…) AND… I love how she doesn’t hesitate to commit to waiting ten years for her beloved.

Would you marry/commit to someone if you had just one day with them before you had to wait ten more years until they returned?

Me personally: It depends on that someone 😉 If his word is faithful and his love is true, then…YES, of course! My “uncle” Buzz & late aunt Lu did that right before WWII – they were married 3 months when he left to fight for 3 years. When they were to meet again, they actually walked by each other on the platform at the train station! It’d be so long they didn’t even recognize each other right away… but because they’d written letters and corresponded faithfully for 3 years, it didn’t take long for them to become reacquainted again! *true love*

Ah, Disney love/hero stories don’t even compare to real life ones!

2) William Turner (Jr.) keeps his promise to his pirate father, risking & ultimately giving his own life (w/help from Jack Sparrow, of course) to free him. In the movie “Day After Tomorrow,” the climatologist father (played by Dennis Quaid) risks his life to keep his promise to his son (Jake Gyllenhal). Something about that really got to me…

**3) The crew will go down with the captain, wherever she or he may lead them. Some of those scenes were pretty beautifully shot when Captain Beckett’s “endeavor” (also the name of his ship) fails and he is so stunned he can’t even give orders to his men to abandon ship, which, at the first mate’s panicked command, they do.

It got me thinking about commitments, choices, and endings/destiny… what, or who, we commit to, will determine the course of our steps and ultimately spell out and decide our destiny… so we must choose carefully, with much thought, study, and prayer. Our destiny isn’t clear until the very end (especially if you make a habit of striking deals w/deceptive and traitorous pirates and deceptive opportunists – you just never know how it’s all gonna pan out!), and though we often forget, we are all awaiting a Judgment Day, “The End” at the of the “story” of Earth. Depending on who (or what) we have chosen to commit to (because the “what” always leads to a “who” – even if that “who” is your Self), we will see our destinies lead to everlasting life with God forever, or eternal death and absence of God (which is the true definition of hell – because you can be living in HELL on earth if you don’t have God’s love, light, and power in your life). It leads me to pray for salvation & revelation for our Hindu neighbors, students & parents here, and to pray for revelation for the Muslim families we serve in this community.

To be honest, these beautiful people who subscribe to Hindu religion/lifestyle/worldview are so much more devoted in following their gods and worshipping their idols than most Christians I know – even the nominal Hindus observe a good deal of Hindu customs and such. It is partly because everything and everyone around them (80% of India’s population) is Hindu, but still…. it humbles me to see their sincere devotion, and makes me want to be more diligent and intentional in the way that I follow Jesus.

A song the children sing, “Yeshu meh ra Captain!” says “Jesus is my Captain,” and that phrase is ringing in my heart and mind tonight as I think in terms of a ship, its captain, it’s crew…

Tonight, inspired by Hindu children singing Christian songs and Disney’s exciting and colorful (albeit culturally-craptastic) Pirates (POTC) movie, I want to recommit to following, serving, and loving MY Captain Jesus.. and recommit to letting Him sail & direct His ship…which is my life.